Although Vicky
Tamplain of LaPlace had been warned about the coyotes roaming her Belle Terre subdivision neighborhood, she felt pretty secure inside her fenced yard. In November,
she learned that her assumption was wrong, when the family's pet, a 15-year-old Maltese, went missing one night.

"I found him
about two feet outside the fence line," Tamplain said. "He was mangled."

A veterinarian told the family that the dog's fatal lacerations came from a large dog or
coyote. Tamplain thinks the coyote must have dug beneath the fence and grabbed the dog, which often sniffed along the fence line. Heavy rainfall had left the ground soggy, she said.

A few weeks
later, a neighbor spotted a large coyote that didn't appear fazed by his presence,
Tamplain said. Another neighbor suspects
her missing pet may have been snatched by a coyote as well.

The Belle
Terre Civic Association has sent out email alerts. And St. John the Baptist
Parish officials are looking into ways to handle what they say is a growing
problem and concern across the parish.

"There have
been some sightings of packs around East St. John High School in the
field area, and a pack of them come out every now and then around Belle Terre," Sheriff Mike Tregre said. "One
was struck (by a vehicle) on Belle Terre a couple of months ago, and he was huge."

Officials suspect the coyotes were driven out of their swampy habitat last
year by Hurricane Isaac.

On Tuesday
the Parish Council briefly discussed the coyote problem. Parish President
Natalie Robottom said the animals fall under the parish's nuisance policy, same as alligators.

"They will
be treated the same way," Robottom said. "There are nuisance officers. We've
contacted them."

Residents who
encounter a coyote may call 911 to notify authorities, who will call
the state Wildlife and Fisheries Department, a parish official said Friday.

Robottom and
Tregre said they discussed the possibility of the Sheriff's Office starting its
own abatement program. But they decided trappers might be more effective than shooting the animals.

"Other
sheriffs have tried what I was going to do, and it doesn't work," Tregre said. "Those
animals are so smart. They are so keen. You just can't get rid of them that
way."

In Jefferson
Parish, which has dealt with coyotes for years, authorities have tried both shooting and trapping. Results were mixed.

An official
with a state wildlife group called Project Coyote suggests scaring the animals
away from populated areas with loud sounds and lights.

St. John Parish
Councilwoman Cheryl Millet, whose district includes the Belle Terre area, joked that the wiley animals
even know the garbage pickup schedule.

"They are brazen," she said. "They are
even out in the middle of day."